>> gretchen: how much time it took him to write the book. log on for our after the show show. >> brian: if you have to run from the television, run to the radio. kill need examine friends. >> eric: don't forget "the five." >> gretchen: have a fantastic weekend, everyone. we'll see you back here again on monday. bye-bye. friday morning. we're watching new protests in egypt today. hundreds taking to the streets. some seeing throwing rocks over the concrete barrier built to protect the u.s. embassy from more damage. who knows what will happen today. welcome to america's newsroom. bill: i'm martha maccallum. good morning everybody. demonstrations in more than half a dozen countries. earlier egypt he's islamist president spoke on state tv. he made the most direct appeal to the public. he asked hem not to attack the u.s. diplomatic post. denouncing the murder of a

u.s. ambassador to libya and three other americans. bill: want to start streaming live with leland vittert just above the concrete barrier. what is the latest, leland? >> reporter: he told the his people it is not islamic to attack the u.s. embassy. you can see the large concrete barrier erected by the egyptian military to keep protesters heading down the street where the american embassy is. the protesters erected their own steelcorr a gated barriers to protect them from the rocks police are throwing back. they're firing volley volleys of tear gas back and volume is are of robber bullets back at the protesters. we will give you a intimate look at the crowd. a very angry crowd and un-american crowd beginning to grow throughout the day as we come back up here to

the balcony. we give you a better vantage. both streets have dozens of waiting to take the injured which there have been hundreds so far and there will be more of coming throughout the day as this crowd continues to grow. so far the egyptian military has been able to hold their line and protect the u.s. embassy. we know the president of the united states talked to the president of egypt and demanded that kind of treatment from what was a long-time u.s. ally. now it seems to be somewhere in the middle d this is clearly un-american crowd, anti-american crowd, chanting with our blood, our soul, we avenge our prophet. bill? bill: who are the people in the streets? the usual suspects in cairo but what do we know about who the rioters are? >> reporter: you have pretty two defending groups. you have people in the street, who are young angry youths trying to break down the police barricades there.

chanting slogans death to america. that kind of thing. if you zoom out a little bit and go 200 yards to your left, we will pan over and go to tahrir square. that is where the muslim brotherhood is holding a huge protest. that's where they tore up a u.s. flag earlier today during friday prayers. and paraded around with a islamist flag. the same islamist flag they put up on tuesday on 9/11. they're also carrying a usama bin laden poster about four feet tall around. that goes with graffiti reportedly sprayed on the u.s. embassy. we can't make our way to the u.s. embassy. the graffiti written on the u.s. embassy, take care, america. we have 1.5 billion bin ladens. that is a very scary prospect from tahrir square. we're getting word that the muslim brotherhood called for a much larger protest to come out later today, about

4:00 after afternoon prayers here in egypt. that would continue to grow. if today goes anything like last night, up until about 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning we had protesters out here in cairo throwing rocks, throwing stones and molotov cocktails trying to break into the u.s. embassy, bill. bill: leland, they have a new president. morsi is his name? where is he, what is he saying and did the egyptian people in the streets listen to him? >> reporter: president morsi is in cairo. he talked to president obama last night. he has not exactly towed the u.s. line on this. he so far said people have right to protest after a phone call with president obama late last night where president obama took a very tough line with egyptian president. he went on tv today, gave a seven-minute speech. he said it is unislamic to commit this kind of violence

against foreigners and foreign embassies. he has gone short of saying the protests they want to stop. they want something called a no insult to our prophet march. the muslim brotherhood calling for the protests is the same party that president morsi. you can see the tear gas coming. all the protesters running as police have started firing back into their line, bill. bill: such a game of cat-and-mouse on the streets below. thanks for your reportering on the streets of cairo. bill: we'll stay on it. we'll bring all the pictures as we come in. we have more details on the arrests linked to the deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in libya. libyan authorities are reportedly interrogating four men right now. the u.s. and libya agreed to cooperate to find out who was responsible for the attack that killed u.s. ambassador chris stevens and three other americans. bill: america's ambassador

killed in the benghazi consulate attack being called a hero today by libya's ambassador to the u.s. he is condemning thecks ane deaths a great loss. he shared memories of his friendship with ambassador chris stevens. >> i've known chris for the last six years. we played tennis together. we drive in one car and we had some traditional libyan food in my house. i must tell you, madam secretary and tell the american people, that chris is a hero. he is a real hero. he is a man who believed in the libyans and believed in the ability they will achieve the democracy after 42 years. bill: ambassador aujali went on to say that ambassador stevens was welcomed by the people of lib. >> and urged america to continue to support his country.

saying we need help not only during war but also during peace. bill: we're getting reaction from ambassador stevens stepbrother. he said steve always looked for the positive side in every situation. listen to some of this. >> he was about bringing people together. being able to listen to a palestinian and israeli and theoretically at the opposite ends of the universe from religious beliefs and political beliefs and honor them without either one of them feeling he was simplifying the situation, oversimplifying the or being patronizing. that is what peace-make something about. bill: their careers kept them in different cities and often different countries for most of their lives. the step brothers were in very close touch according to that report. he received an e-mail from stevens weeks ago and it gave no incation he felt he was in any danger at that point. bill: arizona senator john mccain is on deck. he said president obama is

pursuing quote a feckless foreign policy. what does mean about that. next hour we'll ask him a lot more. stay tuned for more coming your way this morning. bill: oil hitting $100 a barrel as protests spread across the middle east amid all the unrest. that pushes the national average for a gallon of regular gas to $3.87. that is up 20 cents from a month ago. stuart varney from the fox business network joins me now. good to have you here. obviously there is a lot of pressure in this area. >> ben bernanke is driving this oil price spike just as much as the middle east. just yesterday afternoon ben announced he would print up a storm of dollars, $85 billion each and every month as far as the eye can see. that lowers the value of the dollar, when you do that things priced in dollars like oil go straight up. the news this morning, martha, is just that. oil has reached $100 a barrel. gas is closing in on $4 a gallon and we have a blip up

in the inflation rate. ben is coming under a lot of criticism on this, because wall street, stock narcket is at a five-year high, doing very well, thank you very much, but the middle class, middle america, pays $4 a gallon. $100 oil, $4 gas and the middle east is part of this equation along with ben bernanke, martha. bill: it raises a big question whether or not that kind of stimulus, that quantitative easing can actually help the economy at all. he seems to think it will. he will continue to do this until we start to see job creation in the america he says. >> he will keep on printing a lot of money until we see an improvement in the unemployment rate. he doesn't expect a real improvement for a long time. it will be 8% plus well into next year. meanwhile he is printing $85 billion a month and maybe more next year, if the unemmoment rate doesn't come down quickly. bill: boy, stuart, thank you. stuart varney. we'll keep an eye on it. we'll see how the market

does this morning. bill: on the gas prices often times the weekend when you feel it. running around with the kids and family and filling up and it says $95. that is shock to the gut. we're getting started right now. all the developments we're watching today. we're learning new details now on the murder of chris stevens. we'll have that for you. next hour we'll talk to someone who knows the region better than anyone. ambassador ryan crocker who served in iran and iraq under presidents of both parties. bill: a terrific guest. republicans slamming the president's foreign policy a top romney advisor calling it amateur hour. we'll talk toe governor john sununu about that. >> this is moment to show our closest allies in the middle east, we stand with them unequivocally, unequivocally. no mixed signals. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement

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bill: vice-presidential nominee paul ryan returning to capitol hill, voting to delay the deadline for automatic tax increases across the board, spending cuts also, set to go into effect at end of the year. we talk about the fiscal cliff. there he is with john boehner yesterday afternoon. this postpones what was shaping up to be another showdown over the government shutdown after the election. the new deadline will be in the spring as soon as the senate aproves it next week and on and on kicking the can wherever it goes down the road. bill: that is the sound you heard on the sidewalk, right? so where are we now with these rapid developments in the middle east and north africa? and what about the u.s. response? randy forbes, republican from virginia and member of the house armed services committee. well kel. what are we going to do about this? >> bill, obviously the first thing we have to do is assess all the facts and

make sure we have those before we make any kind of reaction but i think what we're going to see that the administration foreign policy is collapsing across the world right now. the president came in and told us people in the middle east would love us more. i don't think exactly what we're seeing when we look at these news clips. the other thing we're finding out you can't lead from behind. we've got to be leaders and we've got to show some strength there. we have to make sure when we have embassies anywhere in the world, when we have representatives representing us ambassadors or anybody else we make sure we protect them and offer that protection. we're looking at facts to see if that protection was there and exactly what breakdowns we had. bill: what do you think is the proper response based on what we think we know now? >> i think the proper response right now is not to do knee-jerk reactions and pull back funding from any of these particular countries. i think the response that we should have had should have taken place months ago. give the facts that we're in, we've got to make it very,

very clear that you're not going to be able to kill an american ambassador and walk away with no consequences. i think that means we'll have to make sure all of our embassies, all of our consulates, are well-fortified and well-protected and we have people there to make sure we're protecting them and keeping them safe. the second thing we have to make sure they don't have orders that prohibit them from doing that anywhere in the world. we're seeing these protests, as you know, bill, expand into other countries which is concerning us very much. bill: what do you think of the white house response so far? >> well, you know, we've been saying all along the white house has done some things that are positive in other parts of the world but the white house, it's time, it is 3 1/2 years. they have to get out of campaign mode and get into leadership mode. they haven't done that. they haven't done that in this situation. they haven't done it with foreign policy around the world. that is why i think we're seeing it at a shambles at this point. bill: if that is your opinion and that's what you believe do you expect a

pivot at this point then based on leadership in the white house? >> i would hope they would. one of the first things i would do, i have had the opportunity over the last year to meet with prime minister netanyahu at least three teams to look at defense issues in israel. if we're concerned about these issues you can imagine how israel, one of our major allies in the middle east is concerned. i think the least the president should do is take a meeting with the prime minister and sit down and reassure him that the united states is going to be supporting our friends. bill: would you expect that to happen when he is in new york, possibly even washington in two weeks? >> bill, as you know the israelis made that request. so far it is my understanding that the president has not fulfilled it. we certainly are encouraging him it do this. i hope the president will take that stand. it is very, very important when we see all these things happen in these other countries we continue to support our allies. those who are not burning our flags and not storming our embassies and certainly israel is one of those countries. bill: do you believe egypt is still an ally of the

united states? >> i think it is too early to say to that. i think a lot's going to depend on what the president does and what does military does. if you look at the protests they still have the capabilities of protecting our embassies there. if you have been at that embassy it is not an easy place to get to. we have good opportunity to defend that and protect that. we have to make sure we monitor and looking where we put our dollars in egypt and making sure the military will in fact be our ally. i think it is way too early to conclude they are right now. bill: based on some of the comments we in brussels from the new president, president morsi, do you consider him is a friend of the united states? >> bill, if you look at what he has been saying so far, his comments, the only thing that he's done shown any friendship when he condemned this killing which he was a little bit late in doing that. i think i put a lot more strength in determining our allies by their actions and not their words. i want to see them take tough actions to protect our

embassy there and turn the protesters back. bill: one more question and more domestic related due to the sequestration and military cuts. how does that change that debate with events looming and events we're watching overseas now? >> bill, we've been saying this for year. this white house cut $800 billion out of national defense over the last two years. they're on target to cut another half trillion dollars out. we're in a situation far more dangerous in the world than we've been in the last several years. we can't afford the huge cuts that are coming without any analysis at all. i hope that we'll get this turned around but we don't see any movement from the white house or senate to try to do it. the house put forward a plan that would do it. we hope at some point we'll sit down at table to negotiate our way through it. bill: thanks for sitting down and talking with us. they're sobering times. randy forbes from washington. >> thank you, bill. bill: the clock ticks down to the presidential election less than two months to go at this point. why the president is saying

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bill: republican presidential nominee mitt romney heads to a key swing state today in ohio. of course this is both mr. romney and president obama hitting the economy on the campaign trail. here is some sound from that. >> oh absolutely. this is, this is going to be a close race and i'm running in an environment where the economy isn't where it needs to be. bill: peter doocy is live for us in washington.

so how has the president been making his case to voters this week, peter? >> reporter: martha, all of the president's plans for the next four years hinge on actually being elected for four more years. after making sure that all the folks at his rallies and in front of tvs in swing states know that he needs more time to fix things, then the next part of the president's plan for a second term goes like this >> our vision, our fight, is to restore the basic bargain that built the largest middle class and the strongest economy the world has ever known. [applause] the promise that says hard work will pay off. >> reporter: there is evidence a lot of people are perceptive to the president's pitch since 44% of likely voters in the latest "fox news poll" say that we are in a recession but that things are getting better which is more than the 36% that say we're in a recession but things could get worse and the 10% say the recession actually over

but we might be headed for another one. martha. bill: pretty interesting. what is the romney campaign doing to convince voters that things might not get ther under four more years of this president? >> mitt romney said in an interview today he is banking on independent voters listening to his plan and deciding that it is better than the president's. >> the outcome is decided by the people in the middle and i believe as they look at who they believe can get this economy strong again and create jobs again and rising wages and take-home pay for middle income families they will say i have the best prospects for doing that and i will get their nod. >> reporter: after both conventions the romney-ryan trails the obama-biden ticket by five points among the independent voters they say will be critical. that is the latest "fox news poll". but 17% of those middle of the road voters are either unsure or want a third party. so the needle might move a little bit before that first tuesday in november. bill: no doubt. that is the zone that will get a lot of attention in the coming days.

we have new swing state polls coming up that we will take a look at that add to this. peter, thank you. bill: that is my cue, right? bill: thank you. over to you, bill. bill: there we go. all right. in ohio mitt romney goes back. first time he's been there in 2008. go back to 2008 this was a state barack obama cleaned up on john mccain in ohio. he won the state by five points, 52-47, almost a landslide the way the state has been so close in recent elections. romney will go up to lake county along lake erie. why you ask? there are a lot of votes in lake county. a county that was 50/50 last time around. john mccain lost by fewer than 2,000 votes in that county alone. go to the southwest. this is cuyahoga county. that is where you find the city of cleveland, ohio. there have sew many democratic votes in cuyahoga county, barack obama won 70-30 in cuyahoga county

alone. the strategy in romney's team drive up the numbers in lake county and offset a clear advantage for barack obama in the southwest city of cleveland and cuyahoga county. you do the quiz on with o'reilly on thursday nights. we know this no republican has won the white house without what? bill: ohio. bill: how many electoral votes? 18. critical, critical stuff. bill: this is easier than the o'reilly quiz. we'll work on it. bill: we'll work in a bill o'reilly answer on that too eventually. bill: no alcatraz questions. bill: great call by the way. what was the question? bill: al capone. bill: al capone. circle gets the square. bill: back to the serious news of this morning that we are continuing to stay on for you as violent riots rage near the u.s. embassy if cairo. we'll have latest pictures. meanwhile this picture of white house where they're trying to clear up questions raised by president obama

wrartz to egypt. is the middle east nation an ally of the united states or not? bill: later today special guest with neil cavuto on you're world. -- "your world". we're back in three short minutes on "america's newsroom."

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might be best for you. there's a wide range to choose from. we love to travel -- and there's so much more to see. so we found a plan that can travel with us. anywhere in the country. [ male announcer ] join the millions of people who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. remember, all medicare supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands a year in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now -- and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. bill: about 9:31 in new york. as we continue our coverage now the white house keeping

a very close eye on the streets of cairo and responding to harsh criticism from the romney team doug mckelway has reaction. he is on the north lawn of the white house. doug, good morning. >> reporter: they're, bill. we just got a statement from the obama campaign which reads, quote, it is astonishing the romney campaign continues to shamelessly politicize a sensitive political situation. that came out moments ago. the administration beefing up security at embassies and consulates around the world. sent two destroyers off the coast of libya in recent days. it is keeping close eye on this friday's protest. friday is the day of prayers on the muslim world when things traditionally escalate. one encouraging sign the muslim brotherhood called off a protest for tahrir square scheduled for today. that is good sign. president making a plea for calm by citing american values at a campaign stop in

golden, colorado, where he said all mean are created equal and endowed by their creator with inalienable rights. this is the president in golden, colorado. >> we believe these are not just american rights. we believe they're universal aspirations. they're held by people that live in tiny villages in libya, prosperous cities in europe. >> reporter: the president did not mention though, in citing american values one of the cornerstones of american democracy. that being first amendment, the right to free speech. critics say the administration is sending mixed signals by condemning the movie makers but not necessarily the protests at least in the initial statements. hear is the second state of tate -- secretary of state yesterday. >> some seek to justify this behavior as a response to inflammatory, despickable material posted on the internet. as i said earlier today, the united states rejects both

the content and the message of that video. >> reporter: romney campaign doubling down on its criticism of the administration for focusing again on the movie, not necessarily on the protests at least in the initial stages, bill. bill: doug mckelway at the white house there. martha. bill: we have got new reaction to president obama's assertion that egypt is not an ally necessarily of the united states. hear is the president and what he said, the original statement from the interview with telemundo. watch. >> i don't think that we would consider them an ally but we don't consider them an enemy. they are a new government that is trying to find its way. bill: white house press secretary jay carney quickly tried to insist that was not a gaffe, telling reporters, quote, the president in diplomatic and legal terms was speaking correctly. what we do not have an alliance treaty with egypt. ally is legal term of art he said. he went on to say, as i said we don't have a mutual

defense treaty with egypt like we do for example with our nato allies which constituted this separate category he said they fall under. later reporters at the state department cut to the chase asking point-blank is egypt or are they not an ally? the official response, yes it is. >> unless you decided that egypt no longer qualifies as a major ally. >> well, that was certainly i don't think the intention. i'm going to refer you to the white house for further parsing on this. >> forget about the president's words. you're saying that the administration, the state department still regards egypt as a major non-nato ally and it is still a recipient of all of privileges that entails? >> yes. bill: yes, is what she said. kt mcfarland fox news national security analyst. confusing. >> yeah. and that's the fundamental problem with the obama administration's approach to the entire middle east. you don't know where he stands on anything. is egypt an ally, is it not an ally? is israel an ally, is it not

an ally. at the domecratic convention is jerusalem the capital of israel or is it not. president won't meet with netanyahu because he is too busy yet they are supposed to be a ally and he has your back. all the administrations i've been in, you want to send a consistent message. as a parent do you want to tell your child you can do this, do that? no you want a consistent strong message. otherwise they don't know are with you stand and they will take full advantage. bill: in fairness, look at post-arab spring middle east. >> right. bill: look at egypt we're not sure whether or not yet whether morsi is really on our side. he is trying to demonstrate that right now. apparently they had a fairly tough conversation, president obama an morsi last night. would it be better to say of course the country of egypt, the people of egypt are allies of the united states. this is a new government that we are, sort of learning to deal with at this point? >> the problem with that is that you've got to the say these things publicly.

don't matter what obama says to this guy privately. obama put this man in power in a sense pause i pulled the rug out from under mubarak his predecessor. morsi is there. he is member of the muslim brotherhood, a group for 70 years which talked about being anti-american. wants to kill jews, et cetera, et cetera. so where is the relationship there? president obama, it is not about the silly movie. it is all about what is the muslim brotherhood and morsi relationship with egypt, israel and rest of the countries in the region and to come out make this about a movie and we're apologizing, this is a country we're propping up with american aid. we should have said, you're responsible for keeping our embassy safe. you're responsible. and to not hold morsi and egypt and the egyptian government means they get away with it. who was in the crowd? that to me is the shocking thing. there was scattered salted with al qaeda's royal family with who was standing outside the gates of the american embassy. bill: a frightening development. when you look at the

possibility that al qaeda is finding new strongholds. >> right. bill: we know about the town in libya and in eastern libya where apparently there is a new al-sharia, ansar al-sharia which is this new group that cropped up there. by talking about that, i was very struck yesterday i know you had a strong reaction to, when hillary clinton came out and kept going on about this movie and how what it mistake it would be to assume the united states has anything to do with the production of this movie. i thought, what, why was she doing that do you think? >> i don't know. i honestly, the movie is a sidebar to this whole thing. these two attacks against the egyptian, american embassy in cairo and in benghazi libya, they were well-planned and well-organized and planned in advance. there is evidence that the egyptian government knew several days in advance. even if you have a little common sense, gee, september 11th, maybe we think there might be something happening. instead of being about the fact this was an act of war against the united states,

that she somehow apologizing for the movie, this is sent exactly the wrong movie. this is time when president obama should have chicago style politics towards the middle east and particularly egypt. bill: what about romney, what does he need to do? >> you know, once you got people starting to get killed maybe he shouldn't be strong that very day but i think if nobody is standing up and saying this --. bill: no one had been killed when he made the initial statement. >> no one had been killed when he made the initial statement. here we are fast forward several days later. these demonstrations are only going to grow. al qaeda didn't start arab spring but sure are taking advantage of trying to hijack it. important for any american that wants to be president of the united states to be a strong and clear consistent statement about exactly the relationship he wants with the middle east and what he expects them to do in exchange for our friendship and our aid. bill: what should we say about morsi, we have to go, what would you say. >> if you can't protect the american people. bill: you're not our ally.

>> you're not our ally we we'll reconsider the aid. bill: thank you, kt. bill: 21 minutes before the hour. in a moment the politics about all of this. romney team is out swinging slamming the president's policy saying it is amateur hour. we'll talk to senior advisor john sununu about the romney campaign. all that next. >> the world needs american leadership. the middle east needs american leadership and i intend to be a president that provides the leadership that america respects and, will keep us admired throughout the world. [cheers and applause] there are patients who will question,

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looks good. [ male announcer ] fedex office. now save 50% on banners. bill: now to the politics what is happening overseas and how it affects our election back home. sharp new criticism of team romney of president's handling of this week's crisis overseas. former ambassador advising governor romney saying quote, the president can't even keep track who is our ally or not. this is amateur hour. it's amateur hour.

meanwhile governor romney is hitting president for not taking the lead. >> if i'm president of the united states we will restore our military commitment and keep america the strongest military in the world. [cheers and applause] the world needs american leadership. the middle east needs american leadership, and i intend to be a president that provides the leadership that americans respect and will keep us admired throughout the world. [cheers and applause] bill: at that sam event he said on the way of at mercy of events instead of shaping events. former new hampshire governor john sununu. former white house chief of staff under the first president bush and senior advisor to the romney team. welcome back. >> how are you doing today? bill: i'm fine. define amateur hour for us? >> as much as we regret the and mourn the tragic loss of life that occurred in libya we have to recognize that this is the, the emperor has

no clothes moment for the obama foreign policy. this is an administration who has thought that on the basis of their ego and their arrogance and their hubris and delivering a speech in cairo that somehow they were going to calm a very fragile and unstable part of the world. it is amateur hour because they have done nothing to constructively deal with the amazing transition that's taking place there. the president summed it up himself with the phrase, he wanted to lead from behind. that defines amateur hour. there is no way you lead from behind. bill: the advisor that i just quoted, richard williamson, also said if you had a president romney you would be in a different situation right now, that is his quote. >> sure you would. bill: how do you back that up? >> look, what this president has done eroded respect for america. respect is important to keep our allies comfortable.

respect is important to keep those that aren't so friendly to us recognizing that the united states is a superpower and is willing to project its power to deal with bad issues. but when you have a president that wants to conduct a charm offensive, an apology offensive and base foreign policy on that, then you have problems. this president does not, in my opinion, understand the seriousness of the role of the presidency in leading the free wormed -- world. bill: i want to get to is a statement from the white house and i will let you finish the answer in a moment. here is what the statement said. it is astonishing that the romney campaign continues to shamelessly politicize a sensitive international situation. the fact is president of either party will be confronted with crisis will in office and governor romney continues to demonstrate that he is not compared prepared to manage them. shamelessly politicize.

>> what he is saying there, please don't pay attention to my dramatic screw ups right now. look what is shameless the day after chris stevens was killed, the president again skipped his presidential daily briefing from the cia. unconscionable. it is unconscionable that this president thought he could be president while skipping more than half of those cia briefings. his arow against and ego is such he thinks all he has to do is read the outline material they send him and he understands it. the pdb is written to conduct dialogue with the intelligence professionals that come down to talk to you. the big problem this president has, he has been avoiding that. he think he is so smart and so good that he doesn't have to do what his predecessors did. we're in trouble because it is a amateur hour with a president who doesn't understand what is going on in the world and never had to make a leadership decision until he sat in the oval office.

bill: at what point does the governor romney address this head on? does he make a speech? does he make a statement? does he call a press conference? what are you advising him to do now? >> i think the governor and his advisors are internally trying to balance what is an appropriate waiting for a time in which it will be not be perceived so split can. -- political. it is not easy to do in this climate. it is not owes to do with a president who is more eager to go out and do his fund raisers than to pay attention to his intelligence briefings. but they will find an appropriate time and do the appropriate thing. i'm not trying to tell them how to do it and when to do it. bill: john sununu, thank you for your time. reaction from the romney team between what is going on here at white us who, libya, egypt, and so many praises. thank you for your time. >> thank you. bill: twitter @billhemmer that is our web page online, foxnews.com

/americasnewsroom. bya, because you asked. there is a lot of times to be asking questions what is happening overseas and how it affects us here at home. martha? bill: we have breaking news coming through from lebanon. we're working to turn some new video that has come in of protests there. we'll that for you in a couple of minutes from now. plus a market-moving decision from the fed to print and pump billions of dollars in the u.s. economy in an effort to build jobs in this country. so that decision moves the market. but it raise as question. is the fed getting too involved in politics? a lot of people asking that today. we'll be right back with more. you're a little boring. boring. boring. [ jack ] after lauren broke up with me, i went to the citi private pass page and decided to be...not boring. that's how i met marilyn... giada... really good. yes! [ jack ] ...and alicia. ♪ this girl is on fire [ male announcer ] use any citi card to get the benefits of private pass. more concerts, more events,

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bill: we've got some brand new video just in from lebanon where the wave of violent anti-american protests have spread as we have seen them across the middle east.

take a look at some of this. [shouting] we're getting word there has been at least one protester who has been killed in all of this dozens more are wounded. let's go to conor powell. he joins us live. he is following all of this from kabul, afghanistan. hello, conner. >> reporter: martha. >> that anti-islam video continues to incite the muslims. protesters attacked and set fire to a kfc restaurant in the northern lebanese town of tripoli. they apparently tried to storm an american building. we're hearing as pope benedict arrived in lebanon for a three-day papal visit. he was greeted with protesters ripping pictures of pope benedict and chanting and anti-pope

benedict slogans. officials are trying to get ahold of the situation there. one person was killed. maybe as many as two we're hearing now and many many are injured. here in afghanistan widespread fear of violent protests never actually materialized. there were smaller protests in kabul and jalalabad. for the most part it was peaceful day in afghanistan and also pakistan. there were larger protests in jalalabad not too far from here but in large part because security officials worked with the local imams and mullahs to try to calm down the situation here. clearly across the wider muslim region tempers are flaring. there is lot of anger. there is still a chance we could see more and more days of attacks and real violent engagement between security forces and protesters, martha. bill: conner as you're speaking we're looking at more video from lebanon. you see a hardee's in the background, symbols of the west i guess.

kentucky fried chicken as you mentioned. these are some of the flash points. you see waving black flags of these protesters and people running in the streets. it is quite a scene. of. >> reporter: it is. and the entire muslim world right now there is, they aren't appearing to be massively large protests but they are small and angry and security officials are really struggling to put them down. there have been continued protests outside the u.s. embassy in cairo. obviously the attack in benghazi. you're seeing this spread across the wider middle east now. there are real concerns they don't know how this is going to end. over the next few days and u.s. state department and embassy as i cross the region they will keep the employees on lockdown and not have them travel until security officials get this under control, martha. bill: let's hope that is soon. thank you very much. bill: want to show you some live pictures now from central cairo where we're three hours from sundown now. protesters clashing with security forces. many are trying to reach

that u.s. embassy. so far not successful. we'll take you back live to cairo when we continue our coverage here. bill: and back here at home we have got some brand new poll numbers that have just come in from those critical swing states. chris wallace joins us to analyze. we'll be right back. (car horn) paying with your smartphone instead of cash... (phone rings) that's a step forward. with chase quickpay, you can send money directly to anyone's checking account. i guess he's a kicker... again, again! oh, no you don't! take a step forward and chase what matters.

and every day since, two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf. we've worked hard to keep it. bp has paid over twenty-three billion dollars to help people and businesses who were affected, and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open for everyone to enjoy -- and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. we've shared what we've learned with governments and across the industry so we can all produce energy more safely. i want you to know, there's another commitment bp takes just as seriously: our commitment to america. bp supports nearly two-hundred-fifty thousand jobs in communities across the country. we hired three thousand people just last year.

bp invests more in america than in any other country. in fact, over the last five years, no other energy company has invested more in the us than bp. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. today, our commitment to the gulf, and to america, has never been stronger. martha: fox news alert, violent anti-american protests spreading across the middle east, u.s. missions on high alert as teargas is being used between the protestors and police. good morning, everybody i'm. >> caller: bill: i'm bill hemmer. good morning at home. hundreds clashed in central cry row, many of the protestors denouncing a film made in the u.s. that mocks the muslim faith and its prophet. even as egypt's president a

member of the muslim brotherhood condems the violence it is anyone's guess when it will end with protestors vowing to defend their faith with our soul and our blood. martha: leland vittert is streaming live from cry row above the scenes we've seen playing out on the street. when we spoke earlier the protestors were trying to get through to the embassy. tell us what is going on now. >> they are still trying here below us to breakthrough the barricade and get to the u.s. embassy which is down the street. they are also trying to out flank the riot police who are now moving positions in this kind of running street battle. we've seen cars burned and all sorts of people injured as they try to get into the come bound area of the u.s. embassy. protestors you see inle to keep the street out, however there is just barrage, after barrage of teargas and rubber bullets. even up here on the balcony we are able to get a sense of how missable it is for lack of a

better word down on the street. the tone in this crowd is very angry, very anti-american. they are chanting that they want the u.s. ambassador to leave their country. we have a number of burned cars here down on the street. the other thing that really strikes you here is just the kinds of graffiti that is out on the u.s. embassy walls, one thing saying, take care america, we have 1.5 -- i'm going to get our photographer to pan to the left a little bit up to a big poster they have elected, which is a picture of blind cleric, the man behind the first world trade attack. one of the things is that he be released. that is something that they are chanting about as well. if you pan all the way up to your left it will give you a sense of what is going on. that is tahrir square where the muslim brotherhood protestors have gathered also protesting, they have a number of chants

there as well that is happening here. the military so far has been able to hold the line around the u.s. embassy, however, we don't know how long that is going to happen for, they've already set big fires there, where that barricade is, and where you see sort of wet spots on the ground, that is the water cannons they are using to try and push the protestors back. martha. >> . martha: how are these protestors different different than the ones out than street we saw during the revolution with hosni mubarak. >> it is a much more uneducated crowd, a much more violent crowd, a much morhard-lined muslim crowd that rants saying we love america they are chanting, death to america, so the tone here has certainly really changed, and obviously the leadership has really changed.

you used to have president hosni mubarak who was a big ally of the united states in hower, he's now gone. you have president morsi who is a president of the muslim brotherhood. he he says this protesting about this anti-islam movie is just find and he asked people to take action against the filmmakers, the same thing these people are demanding. bill: we will move to the west in libya now, put the focus on what happened the night of the raid in benghazi libya that killed our u.s. ambassador and three other americans including two navy seals. jennifer griffin from the pentagon. she is on that story. what can we report about the details of the attack in libya. >> reporter: the more we learn about the attack in benghazi libya it seems it is totally separate from the protests taking place across the middle east regarding this anti-islamic

filmment this was a well planned two-prong attack on the consulate and possibly a second location. the state department is not commenting further on what happened that night in benghazi, but we are learning from a libyan deputy interior minister a version of events that is different from what we initially heard from senior officials. the consulate was attacked about 10:15 local time that's when the ambassador chris stevens and sean smith the it officers were initially killed. then it seems there was time to move about 30 members who were at the compound, americans as well as libyans working for the consulate to a safe house, and that safe house according to this libyan interior minister who was in the operations center at the time of the rescue, if you will, he says that this safe house was in an equestrian area a few miles away from the

consulate, and that he suggested there was some sort of infiltration of the security forces that allowed them to know where the people had been evacuated to from the consulate, and that's when a second attack happened to it several hours later, bill. bill: can we say as to whether or not there was inside help, or whether or not this was an inside job? >> reporter: this is what the deputy interior minister of libya is suggesting, that there was some sort of spy within the ranks of the security forces. what he told reporters in libya is that the initial periphery, the local police providing security at the consulate they fell away as soon as armed gunmen showed up to the consulate, and then they did manage, he says, to evacuate about 30 people from the compound, and several hours later there was a second attack on this supposedly secret safe house, suggesting that there was some sort of spy in the libyan

security forces. bill: jennifer griffin the latest from the pentagon. jennifer when you get more and certainly there will be much more coming out, whether or not it's today, over the weekend or the coming weeks, thank you, jennifer we'll bring you back from the pentagon. martha: let's get back to the election now for a moment, because new polls have come out from critical swing states and they show president obama gaining ground. let's take a look at this mbc poll, the president is leading mitt romney by 7 points in ohio, a huge gap in ohio according to this one poll, that is where mitt romney, no spies is spending his time campaigning today. the president is up by 5 points over romney in virginia, that is a state that the president won in swaeut but it has been a longtime since a democrat has taken the state of virginia. he has a five-point advantage over romney in florida, which is a surprising number given the fact that romney had been doing fairly well in florida. it's just one poll. and we've got a couple of months to go, but chris wall as joins

me now anchor of fox news sunday. good morning, chris, good to see you. >> good to be with you again. martha: talk to me a little bit about the polls and your take on them. >> you're right, there are a lot of polls out. rasmussen as a poll that shows nationally romney leading i think by a point over obama, so these are snapshots in time, but it's not good news, and particularly these key swing states. romney could lose any one of them and still win the presidency, although it's awfully hard to lose florida. could lose any one of them, rather. he could lose florida, that would be awfully hard he would have to win every one of the other eight undecided states. it's not good news and it does further the narrative that at this particular point as we've settled in a week after the conventions, that obama high school a lead, you know, it's not an overwhelming lead but it's a lead of three to five points around the count throw and romney is going to have to find a way and he has plenty of

time, he has seven and a half weeks, he has the three presidential debates, the one vice presidental debate. to be this far behind in these king swing states,ess special lease ohio, especially florida is a problem. martha: you bring up the debates, and clearly everything that's been happening in the middle east has put a real focus on foreign policy. i want to bring up a quote by richard williamson who is a former assistant secretary of state and ambassador who is an adviser now to the romney campaign. he says, there is a pretty compelling story that if you had a president romney you'd be in a different situation. the president can't even keep track of who our ally or not. this is amateur hour, this is the quote that has been seized been. the first time since jimmy carter that we have seen an american ambassador assassinated. clearly they want to draw that carter comparison. they feel like begin what's going on in the middle east that is force i will ground for them, i guess. >> well, and it's a perfectly legitimate and an important debate to have. the only thing i would say is if

romney wants to make that argument he really needs to make the argument. he needs a major speech, he needs to campaign, he needs campaign commercials. the romney camp has had this idea since the very start that the economy is bad, people are unhappy witness, and if they are presented with a reasonable alternative, and that's all they have to do in the case of mitt romney that they'll vote for him. i'm not so sure as we come out of those two conventions that that is enough. i think romney to make a stronger more affirmative case boats on the economy, and the idea that he's on the side of the middle class and especially also on foreign policy. he needs to say, here is what i would do that is different than barack obama and why it would be better than what a barack obama has done. he takes a couple of shots but he needs to make a concerted effort on this issue. there is plenty to attack. the president came in, he talked about engaging iran that didn't work. engaging north korea, that didn't work. one could argue whether or not on the 111th anniversary of

9/11 we should have had much more protection against infiltration, much more protection by u.s. forces of u.s. ambassadors around the middle east, there is plenty more arguments to make but rom thee has to make the case. martha: we will be watching you this weekend. thanks, chris. he will speak with someone who is very much on point with all that he was just talking about the chairman of the house intelligence committee mike rogers about the anti-u.s. protests. he has a lot of information on what he believes actually happened on the ground. he'll talk to chris over the weekend, fox news channel 2pm and 6pm eastern sunday. bill: a group of athletes getting a shout out for a job well done at the white house. look at that picture. that is so cool. that is from the south lawn, and president obama and the first lady welcoming the u.s. competitors who took part in the recently concluded olympic and pair a olympic games honoring

their success and all the gold medals we took home. congratulations. doubts about the re-election hopes straight from the commander-in-chief. we'll tell you whether this is humility or a strategy. martha: a new time to stimulate the economy, does it have anything to do with politics? we'll take a look at both sides and reactions on either side of the aisle on that one. bill: senator mccain will stop by here in 15 minutes. while he says the anti-american protests that we are he watching here may require an overhaul of our policies and attitudes towards the entire region, listen. >> it obviously is a situation which the egyptian government had the opportunity to protect our embassy and they failed in that responsibility. ♪ i'd like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios!

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martha: welcome back, everybody,

on a friday. president obama talking candidly about his chances for re-election in a new interview. watch. >> do you think there is a reasonable chance that you could lose this election? >> oh, absolutely. this is going to be a close race, and i'm running in an environment where the economy isn't where it needs to be. i take nothing for granted. martha: so is the president just being humble or is he genuinely concerned. joining us live mary katherine ham editor at charge of hot air.com and a fox news contributor. and lan se lanny davis, also a fox news contributor. let me start with you. what do you make of the president's statement there. >> it's accurate. the polls show right now that he got a pretty good bump from the convention and he's now significantly ahead by statistical margins at least in "the new york times" poll that was published this morning.

rasmussen has mitt romney ahead. this is going to be a close contest. he did acknowledge the economy hasn't performed the way he liked it to and i think he's made an accurate statement. >> marry catherine you say when he's confident he tends to be more gracious? >> this is sort of my gut feeling on this is that this perhaps is not an indication that he's worried, maybe more an indication that he sees that he's in a more solid position than he's been in the past. i think he's willing to give a little bit morey tore i can lee speaking and be a little more gracious in public when he feels like he's doing so way. when he's not and he has something to lose and he feels more worried about that he and his campaign have been perfectly willing to be not so gracious as we've seen. i agree with lanny it's an accurate statement. the whole time it's been possible for him to lose. he's in a more solid position than many would expect given the economy. mitt romney has seven weeks and a lot of money to spend and this thing is not over. martha: we have three debates

ahead. what do you anticipate for the next phase of this contest? >> first of all one of the qualifications to be president that are rarely part of presidential campaigns, except when there are significant foreign policy events, such as 9/11 or the vietnam war, is foreign policy. and i think what's happened in the last 48 hours, and what might get worse in the middle east is going to raise the importance of foreign policy experience. barack obama had none when he ran in 08 and mccain had an advantage on that issue. republicans usually do. i think in this case this is working against mitt romney even if he hadn't made the mistake he made by jump too quickly. i don't think a foreign policy focus is to his advantage. obviously his campaign would agree with that, they want to stay focused on the economy. martha: lanny, you look at middle east and there is an argument to be made that the president has deteriorated our relationships there. you look at what is going on right now with israel, and you look at the question about whether or notee skweupt egyp

whether or not egypt is an ally, not sure about that at the moment. what does this say about the romney campaign in some ways if there is an argument to be made that foreign policy should not necessarily be a strong suit here for the president? >> look, he's up to being criticized for foreign policy problems. i think the relationship with israel has unfortunately suffered because of unnecessary slights to the prime minister, but on the other hand i think right now i'm glad he said it's not clear that egypt is an ally. they are not acting like one, and i think that one is going to gain points with the american people. but, sure he's public to criticism on a lot of foreign policy issues as well. martha: we've got to go but one thing you think the romney campaign needs to do right now. >> i do think there are gaps on this foreign policy issue there are vulnerabilities and making it a little more clear what they are is perfectly imbound for mitt romney. i won't be surprised if their

camp is a little bit spooked afteedia decided that he was not allowed to speak in the wake of the incidents in libya and cairo the other day. the hostility of the media might have them a little scared about them and they are sticking to other things. martha: good to see you both. bill: back to the fundamental quirks how will the united states respond after its embassy was raided. what the u.s. military has in playoff the coast of libya today, captain chuck nash will analyze that in a moment. martha: hear is the scene in cairo. we will speak with senator john mccain, while he calls president obama's foreign policy, quote, feckless. >> the traditional role of american is that america leads. this president believes in leading from behind. he does not believe in america's exceptionalism and that accounts for his behavior in failing to stand up for people that are fighting for freedom. (bell rings)

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bill: breaking news now, just getting record that a team of u.s. marines is heading for the capitol city of yemen. i want to move back now to what is happening in libya with the u.s. navy now sending two guided misse destroyers off the shore of tripoli. here is what we have on the map. here is the capitol city of libya. benghazi is where the consulate was taken out two days ago. further to the east in cairo are the images we've been putting on our screen, the protests that have gone back and forth, cat and mouse in the streets today. common boards between tripoli. captain chuck nash is here. these navy destroyers are going to be positioned off the tripoli

is that your understanding or do they move back and forth between the two towns of tripoli and benghazi? >> they will be patrolling back and forth between the two towns. they have collection systems on them, and they are going to be monitoring electronic transmissions, radios, walkie-talkies, cell phones, that kind of thing, they will be collecting intelligence. bill: can they help us find those who are responsible? >> i think they will be part of the intelligence collection effort for sure. the other thing they'll probably be doing is keeping an eye on some iranian ships that have a habit showing up in places recently like benghazi, egypt and yemen. and the ships are, as far as we can tell, it's a shell game, but they've been reflagged multiple times and they belong to a company called tide water middle east which is owned by the islamic revolutionary guard in iran. bill: we'll give you images of the new navy destroyers. this town of derna, 150 miles

east of benghazi and 150 miles west of the border of egypt, that is a hotbed of islamic activity and has been for years. how much do you know about the islamic radicals coming out of that town specifically. >> a group has recently been identified and popped up in the news. in the main when we looked at the foreign fighters that were captured or whose bodies we recovered after they blew themselves up in iraq, libya was the second or third largest contributor of foreign fighters, and the vast majority over 90% came from that eastern enclave in libya. bill: something to watch there, yeah. we are looking at a navy detroyer on the scene, the first is the laboon, and the u.s.s. mcfall. on the breaking news in yemen, how much can you add to the marines sent to libya 36 hours

ago and now yemen. >> the marine corps provides the security for our embassies world i'd, an worldwide, and we have back up forces that can quickly go in, and they are trained in antiterrorism capabilities, and what they do is they are called fast teams, and we can deploy those guys very quickly to come into an embassy situation, they train for this all the time and back up the regular marine corps security. this is very well rehearsayed. these guys are real pros at what they do and they are on a short leash. phone rings they are gone. this is something that would have been a really good idea before the 11th anniversary of 9/11 to look at the security situation, but now it looks like we're doing everything we can, more in a catch up mode. bill: you're saying that was a mistake, we were not ready. >> well, i think the schedule

that somehow leaked out and got to the bad guys -- i don't think for a minute that the ambassador's assassination had anything to do with the movie. i think the movie thing is a cover, and the more we dwell on the movie thing, the more we're getting away from the real tough questions, which is why didn't our libyan allies, so to speak, these friends that we helped put in power, why didn't they know about it? why didn't we know about it? i mean those are the hard questions that need to be asked, not trying to write it off to some random event that is unpredictable like a movie. that movie played over a month ago and maybe played in one or two days in an obscure theater in l.a. bill: that's what's been reported anyway in l.a. it seemed to be primarily online if even that. chuck nash thank you. it's good to have you. martha: working on headlines coming out of tunis right now,

if we get that we'll bring it to you. in the meantime our diplomats are clearly working in the line of fire, coming unde under attack in the middle east including in the egyptian kapt tolcapitol of cairo. coming up next, ryan crocker with his take on what is going on. bill: what experience he has too. guess who is going to washington? guess who went to washington the star of the show at the values summit conference this morning. we'll tell you.

martha: take a look at this. this is brand-new video that we judge just got even in in khartoum in sudan, where you can see that the protestors are pushing back the guards and the military there in a violence situation. what we're told is that at one point they were able to scale the walls and to raise a muslim flag in khartoum in the german embassy, i need to emphasize here, this is an attack on the german embassy, you see the walls go down dow right here. let's listen to it. [shouting] martha: again, khartoum, the german embassy where they have scaled the walls. this is an ongoing situation,

brand-new video has just come in from this morning. we'll bring you more on this as we get more information we'll go back to it. bill: there is also a suicide bombing attempt in sudan just this past week trying to takeout its leader. back to that in a moment. the news is breaking literally in so many different places, u.s. marines heading to yemen we got that word earlier today. reports of hundreds in the capitol city of s u.n. nah, trying to storm the city there as they did yesterday as well. demonstrators burning down a kentucky fried chicken restaurant there. my next guest has served as calm bass tkoer five times in five difference locations, iraq, pakistan, kuwait, lebanon, ryan crocker, mr. ambassador welcome to our program here and welcome to you. i want to begin with you and offer my condolances to your friend chris stevens and the loss of him and the three others in benghazi. how well did you know him? >> well, thanks, bill, and thanks for your kind words. i knew chris quite well.

he was one of our best and our brightest, one of our finest experts on the middle east, and one of our bravest officers. we're a pretty small namely in the near east division of the state department, and it feels like a family loss. it's also a loss to the nation, and frankly it's a loss to the libyan people, they had no greater supporters. bill: indeed it is. everybody has talked about great he will weekends about his life there. it is indeed a great loss. in the bigger picture mr. ambassador you have spent many years overseas in this part of the world your perspective is invaluable. 0 how are we to understand where this is going? >> the first thing to recall, bill, is we've seen parts of this movie before. this is not the first time that what are perceived in the region as desecrations of islam have resulted in violent outburst. i've seen it in pakistan, i saw it when i was ambassador in

afghanistan from which i just returned. i've seen it around the world. some of it is spontaneous, some of it is deliberately directed. we are going to have to ride this out as we've ridden it out before. we are going to have to use all of our contacts and relationships with local governments and security forces, because they will have to take the brunt of it, and we are going to have to bring in our own assets, as we've done off the coast of libya. interesting to note, you mentioned the town of darna. darna was where the american flag was first raised by a combined state department-u.s.-marine expeditionary reforce in victory over rebels on foreign soil back beginning in the 19th century. so we are back full circle. bill: back to the shores of tripoli. is the biggest issue already showing that egypt is going to

be a problem for some time to come? >> bill, i think a lot of us who have watched the unfolding of the arab spring have felt almost from the outset that this is just a curtain razor. raise racer. there will be problems in egypt, in libya in every single state in which a regime is toppled, just as was the case for different reasons in iraq and afghanistan. the end of a regime is the beginning of a new set of challenges that can go on for years, if not decades, so you know, we are still act one, scene one around the region with these new governments, and fat even your seatbelt. bill: secretary clinton said yesterday the united states government, i'm quoting her now, had absolutely nothing to do with this video. now, in the arab world does it make a difference if we're apologizing for a film that we have nothing to do with?

>> she didn't apologize, she simply stated a fact. it will matter in some quarters, i think it is important to friendly governments that they hear that and are able to use it, but at a certain point theet no matter what you say they are going to keep on going until they are beaten back, and then we come to the second part of the equation, in my experience in some of these cases, organized groups take advantage of street emotion and organize targeted attacks, which has already been alleged in the case of libya. bill: i guess my question was more directed toward what those in this region, this part of the world have and have not seen. in your experience do they stop and look at this film online or does this just spread through text messages and twitter and facebook and social media and cell phones that you know are ever present now? >> it's a combination of both,

bill. i sometimes think we every estimate the reach of the new social media. some have them, the vast majority don't. the main band of communication continues to be word of mouth, and distortion can often be tpao robe ferocious. bill: thank you ryan crocker. he's back home in eastern washington. we will call on you again in see where we are in a few days, sir. thank you. >> thank you, bill. martha: new questions as to whether this ongoing violence in the middle east should change america's outlook toward that region. former presidential candidate senator john mccain how see here with ambassador stevens, visiting last april in libya, he tells us why the death of four americans, including his friend ambassador stevens, tells us quite a lot. bill: also on your money now we'll take a lock at what the federal reserve is doing now ben

bernanke with a plan to stimulate the economy 54 days before the vote says it has nothing to do with politics. what does that say about the state of our economy and its strength or lack there of. >> this is a main street policy because what we are about here is trying to get jobs going, trying to create more employment. we are not promising, you know, a cure to all these ills, what we can do is provide some support. jack, you're a little boring. boring. boring. [ jack ] after lauren broke up with me, i went to the citi private pass page and decided to be...not boring. that's how i met marilyn... giada... really good. yes! [ jack ] ...and alicia. ♪ this girl is on fire [ male announcer ] use any citi card to get the benefits of private pass. more concerts, more events, more experiences. [ jack ] hey, who's boring now? [ male announcer ] get more access with the citi card. [ crowd cheering, mouse clicks ]

bill: confirming now the u.s. military says u.s. marines are on the ground in yemen, capitol city of saana today. there were hundreds trying to breach the u.s. embassy there, much like there were yesterday with forklifts trying to tear apart cars and the gates surrounding the embassy. we'll keep track of that and other actions happening around the region which there are many at the moment. 18 minutes before the hour now. martha: we continue this morning to track scenes of anti-american

rage in egypt and throughout the middle east. growing concerns that the white house response to the deaths of four americans, two diplomats and two former navy seals, that something in that response from the white house may be lacking. here is secretary of state hillary clinton. >> let me state very clearly, and i hope it is obvious, that the united states government had absolutely nothing to do with this video. we absolutely reject its content and message. america's commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. martha: joined my republican arizona senator john mccain, ranking member of the senate armed services committee who has called the foreign policy of the administration, the obama administration feckless in recent days. he joins me now. senator, good morning. good to have you with us today. >> good morning.

martha: i know you have a lot of respect for the secretary of state. but the question that is raised, i think, by her comment, is whether or not we need to focus so much on this movie, and whether or not, you know, the ridiculous notion that the united states had anything to do with this movie, are we taking our eye off the larger picture here in that focus? >> i think we're taking our eye off the larger picture in the respect that this day and age anybody can get on the internet, can make a movie in an hour or two and for us to assume that we have to make sure that everybody knows we are not responsible for it, obviously should not be necessary. there is a larger problem here. the middle east has gone through a transition and one that was going to happen sooner or later, in my view. dictators never last forever. but obviously the policy afterwards has not been to the benefit, at least in some cases, to democracy and freedom and the kind of relationship that we

would like to have with these countries. part of it, martha, is throughout the region they know we are leave. they believe we are weak and they believe we are withdrawing. iraq is unraveling, afghanistan is headed in the wrong direction, 30,000 -- 20,000 people have been mass occurred in syria. the president of the united states has not said a word. and so we are sort of in a passive situation while these events unfold, and we need a new policy and a new outlook towards the region. martha: you know, there is a striking picture that is next to us on the screen right now, and it is a huge barricade that separates tahrir square from the u.s. embassy in egypt, and it illustrates really so much i think about what is going on here. you just touched on something that is very significant. you are basically saying that there is a belief in the middle east that the u.s. is in withdrawal mode. elaborate on that for me, iraq, afghanistan, the increase that we're seeing in deaths in those

countries now, and i think you would say, and i'll let you say it if it's what you believe, that we turned our back in those situations and that it may come back to bite us. >> very much so. look, senator obama said the surge would never work. president obama got us out. we should have had a residual force there. we spent so much blood and treasure in iraq it's now unraveling. the maliki ke malikis is in the camp of the iranians. the country is in danger of breaking up into sunni and kurds. we won the war and lost the peace. all the president does is tell people we are withdrawing. the al-qaida, the taliban and others draw the appropriate conclusions, and of course in syria, here is people standing up and literally sacrificing

their lives and not only will we not help them by giving them arms to have -- so it would be more of a fair fight, when is the last time you heard the president of the united states say a word in behalf of these people who are being mass occurred? they take all these lessons, and then they draw appropriate conclusions. martha: yeah, you know, when i listen to hillary clinton talking about the movie, to me it is so striking, you know, and i am asking this to you, are we looking at a situation that we may see pass and settle down in the coming weeks, or will we look back and see this moment and the brutal assassination of chris stevens, and three other americans as a turning point that opened a powder keg in the middle east? >> i think these demonstrations will probably at least in the short term be under control, but the question is, do you see a return of al-qaida in iraq? do you see this bloodletting continue for months and months and months in syria where people

are raped, tortured, murdered, with the assistance of russians. remember the reset button, and the iranians on the ground. or will we see continued movement in countries like egypt towards radical islamic behavior, that is the question i think that is more important to our future in the middle east, and in my view our policies have failed since the arab spring bee gone and w began and we have to do things a lot differently. martha: do you think the american people care enough about this subject for it to move votes in this coming election? >> i'd like to tell you yes, i don't know. i understand when the economic conditions are as bad and serious as they are, but the traditional role of america is that america leads. this president believes in leading from behind. he does not believe in american exceptionalism and that accounts for his behavior in even failing

to stand up for people that are fighting for freedom. you know, we always do wwrrd, what would ronald reagan do. martha: we thank you always, senator mccain. good to see you, sir. >> thank you, martha. bill: he questions the big quirks you have the arab spring and you have this vacuum of leadership in so many of these countries, and did it beg a stronger leadership from the united states in helping to guide those issues or would it have made any difference? that is something that the american people are going to have to really give some thought to as they watch all of this play out. bill: remember where all this started too, almost two years ago in tunes r-r at th tunisia in the capitol city. this is what we're getting from the "associated press" in tunis, black smoke is coming from around the u.s. embassy as you see in the picture here. reuters reporting five protestors wounded by police gunfire near the u.s. embassy in

tunis. large fire inside the embassy compound. that according to reuters. now we have all these hot spots yet again, whether it's in tunisia, or yemen, or khartoum, sedan or northern lebanon that we reported earlier. in a moment you'll see some video. where is this from, guys? >> that is tunis, tunisia, that is the large plume of smoke that was described to us in the early reporting of the "associated press" and reuters. that is clear and obvious near the u.s. embassy and possibly inside the compound. martha: there were reports of them setting trees on fires and breaking windows at the u.s. embassy in tunis. are there any safe embassies right now across this area of the middle east? it's a big question right now. we'll stay right on top of it. more coverage straight ahead.

jon: i'm.

jon: scott. violence exploding from khartoum, lebanon, tunisia what is fueling this rage and what is the u.s. doing to protect our interests. expert analysis ahead including ambassador john bolton. new polling today from several battleground states. where their voters stand in the presidential race. jenna lee and i join you in just a few minutes. bill: thank you. federal reserve now taking a strong step to help the economy. the fed chair ben bernanke insisting this decision has nothing to do with an election in 50-some-odd days. >> i think we've tried very, very hard and successful to be nonpartisan and apolitical. we make our decisions based entirely on the state of the economy, and the needs of the economy for a policy accommodation. bill: from the fox business network, jeri willinwillis from

the fox business network. bill: you said you were stunned by the moved. >> this is a nuclear option, this is they are throwing everything at the economy. pwe are buying bonds this month, every month until the situation gets better. they will keep rates low through 2015. this was everything they could do, i was surprised. bill: what does that say about what is behind the curtain? what does it say about the strength of our economy? >> it says the economy is getting weak and not better ande horizon. unemployment is above 8% for more than 40 whose in a row. the fed is trying to do everything they can. the question is do they have the right tools to do it, it's an open question. bill: the arrows in the quiver are running short, as if to suggest maybe the fed did not have many more options left over. clearly they do based on this action. >> i can't really explain it. i'm at a loss to tell you the truth. i expected them this do something far different. the problem is really in washington, it's the policies

that congress is pursuing that are keeping people from spending in this economy. bill: you're going to talk about this tonight. 6:00 ab 9:00 eastern on the fox business network. thank you, we will watch that. martha what is next. martha: we have been following this report of large clouds of black smoke seen coming from around the u.s. embassy in tunisia, new pictures and video coming in. we will bring those to you right after this. we will be right back. why not make lunch more than just lunch? with two times the points on dining in restaurants, you may find yourself asking why not, a lot. chase sapphire preferred. there's more to enjoy.

martha: take a look at this scene. a heart large -- a large cloud of black smoke. this is combing from the u.s. embassy compound in tunisia. reports are that walls were scaled and trees set on fire, windows broken. we're waiting for word whether or not we still have people in that embassy and what their status is. that as soon as we get it. bill: you have to figure, what, 5:00, 6:00, 7:00 in the evening